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So many of us are struggling to get a decent amount of sleep. We have so much on our mind: there's so much to do with family, our job could be causing stress, and we may have many activities in which we're involved.
There are several heath benefits of sleep, including:
Weight Maintenance - it helps us from gaining weight
Heart Health - heart attacks and high blood pressure are prevented with sufficient sleep
Mood - with more sleep, we wake more energetic and in a better mood
Headaches - sleep alleviates some of the stress associated sleep deprivation
Sleep deprivation is associated with depression, anxiety, lowering the immune system, and memory loss. As we age, we should go back to napping, It improves memory, cognitive function, AND mood.
However, THE most important thing you can do to promote better sleep? Remove your phone from the bedroom!
Yes! This was most difficult for me, as I had all sorts of excuses:
It's my alarm clock - buy one at Walmart for $10
What if I get an email? - it's really not going to help, if your thinking is unclear
My charger is already in the bedroom - get a little exercise and move it (sorry, that was a little blunt
The only real excuse I could muster: I need to hear if someone calls me in an emergency. OK, that IS legit. Still, put the phone outside the bedroom but within earshot. Put the important people in your life in your Favorites. Most phones have a setting (contact your phone company if you can't find it) where you can add a do-not-disturb schedule, and
check "allow calls from favorites." Double check you can hear your phone ring from your room. Ta-da!
Now, here are three key reasons WHY it's so important to get the phone out of the bedroom:
1. Light - The blue light from our phone screens confuses our brains into thinking it's daytime, even when it's clearly nighttime. At this point, our brain thinks it's time to awaken. So, you feel like you've just taken an espresso shot.
2. Your brain's reward system - Lot's of activities on our phones are designed to behave like drugs in our brain, making us want to keep going non-stop. Next thing you know, it's after midnight, you're still awake, tired, and set up for a bad night of sleep. When you get the phone out of the bedroom, you're unable to fall into this rabbit hole.
3. Stress - Your phone can be loads of fun, but it also can be loads of stress. Those constant noises, the buzzing, the emails, the notifications: they interrupt your sleep and can prevent you from falling into a deep, regenerating sleep.
If you're home right now, put down (or aside) whatever device you're reading this on and go set up your charger outside your bedroom. Enjoy you night of deeper sleep TONIGHT!